Wednesday, January 2, 2013

FROZEN BLOOD - THE BEGINNING

It had been one hell of a day for Raghav.
Three months ago, he would not have imagined his life would take such a turn.
He writhed in agony. How much did his heart and soul yearn to roll those three
months back! He would kill for that. Yes he would. Kill! He was walking back
after another fruitless day. With every passing day of ineptitude and futility,
his vengeance simmered and its rumble matched the sky’s thunder. It was a dark
night and the lack of stars in the sky was synonymous to the lack of compassion
in his heart. Compassion is for the weak; hope is for the meek he thought. The
bolt of lightning gave him God’s consent.

Sumitra was pale and her pulse was frantic!
This house which had flooded her mind with myriad memories of bliss now seemed
alien. The windows were closed yet a macabre chillness engulfed her. She could
hear a scream and it was the pain from a wronged soul. The loyal walls echoed
the scream to a deafening resonance. It was their homage to their master! She
had lost track of time and place. She was not in control of herself anymore.
She would wander aimlessly around the house all day desperately searching for
happiness which she felt was permanently buried inside those walls three months
ago. She heard footsteps but they were not approaching her. They were leaving
her forever and she hysterically ran behind them. They led her to that dreaded
well!

It was a hellish night and the streets were
deserted. The wind was lashing ruthlessly and even the burliest of trees were
feeling rickety but Raghav was emotionless and resolute. Nature had nothing to
destroy in a man who had been ripped apart by fate. That moment, a thunder bolt
struck with vicious intensity, and in that split second flash he saw the
silhouette of the car that had rendered his life meaningless. He could still
see frozen blood in its tire tracks. Standing near the car were four men, each
of them deserved a death as cruel as life was for him!

Sumitra stared into the well with a
distracted glare in her eyes. For the first time, she actually realized how
deep it was. There was an invisible chill from deep inside that was more
forceful than gravity as she tried to hold her own. Suddenly she felt a touch
and turned around with a start. It was her father. She smiled at him. He smiled
back. Ironically the smile on his lips blended perfectly with the pain in her heart. She crumbled on his shoulders. He took the position of the well bucket
and implored her to let him go. Tears rolled down his cheeks along with a
lifetime of memories. He “My girl.. I want to give you something before I
leave.” He opened his hands and offered his heart. It was then she noticed the
hole in his chest. She shrieked and released the rope. The bucket splashed
against the water and deposited a few drops of blood on her face. Her soul
trembled at the reverberating echo. She ran inside terrified.

Ramcharan was a simple man who had lived a
life of principle, simplicity and happiness. He lost his wife early and from
then on his life revolved around Raghav and Sumitra. He worked all his life in
the textile mill run by the local big shot Ambarish and his sons. A sad
predicament to a man who was born in a well off business family! But bad luck
and a wastrel uncle spelled doom and by the time he had reached his adolescence
there was nothing left but for their ancestral house. But he was a very content
man and found peace with his fate and happiness blossomed in the form of his
adorable children. He watched them grow up to be fine individuals. While Raghav
became a clerk in the bank, Sumitra took up teaching the little village kids in
the local school. With just a few months for his retirement, the only thing
that worried Ramcharan was Sumitra’s marriage. That was when Aditya came into
their lives.

Aditya was a rich lad who was the charming
and capable son of the local landlord. It took him only 2 visits to the local
school to lose his heart to the lovely and caring school teacher. Ramcharan
knew that Aditya’s family was beyond their means or status but Aditya’s
personality and his sincere love for Sumitra sowed seeds of hope in Ramcharan’s
heart. As he had expected, it wasn’t easy as Aditya’s father turned out to be
the typical haughty landlord and put a huge prize tag for his precious son. His
life long savings would only cover half of it and he reluctantly looked at this
house as it gently smiled back at him. He immediately went to his old friend
Kishorilal who happily lent him money on the house at a minimal interest rate. He
was really surprised and overwhelmed by the rare benevolence of his miserly
friend. He was going to retire and a lump sum awaited for him in a few months
which he felt should be enough to recover the pledged house soon. Or so he
thought!

Oh gosh, you have stopped here! awaiting the next part. The well part of the story, really gave me the goose bumps. The scene practically played in front of my eyes! I guess I know how this goes ahead.

oh wow... hmm.. looks like you have thought out how this is going to play out. :) Let us see how close you are! ;) Sorry for stopping the story at an important point. Will put up the next part very soon. :)

Oh My god very very gripping story totally was lost in the magic of your words and then you leave us in suspense cant wait please please post the next half soon.Amazingly written, just cant find right words to praise this tooooooo good Raj,

BTW though its not the style, should I expect my hero Ramanujem in the second half?

Saru.. every comment of yours is so special. :) The way you are able to see and read what emotions and thoughts I had in my mind for each of the characters is phenomenal. It makes the writer so happy. And I am so blessed to have a wonderful reader like you. :) Thank you so much.

Thank you so much Deb. Am so glad you like the first part. :) He he.. that is the advantage of writing a story. You can keep it vague and twist it the way you want even if it makes absolutely no sense. Half of my stories are like that. :P